Black Rose
by Jacqlynn-Frost
Summary: (Sequel to Winter Rose. If you haven't read it yet, I recommend that you do before you read this one.) Rose is eight months pregnant, and everything is going great. But what happens when Jamie tells Rose that a lot of kids have been having nightmares again? The Guardians think that Pitch is up to something, but they soon discover that Pitch may not be the one behind it this time.
1. The baby shower

**A/N Hey guys! As promised, here is the sequel to Winter Rose! Sorry it took me so long to get it up here, I was plotting out the story line. I think you guys are really going to like it. ^^ Anyways, I will try to get the second chapter up as soon as I can. No promises on how long it will be though, because I have serious writers block these days... But I hope you all will bear with me. Also, I know that Rose's pregnancy isn't 100% accurate to real life, and I apologize to those of you who like these things to be medically accurate. That's all for now, so, without further ado, here is the first chapter! Hope you enjoy it! ^^**

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~Rose's POV~

I stand in front of the mirror, looking at myself, and how I've changed in the past few months due to my pregnancy. I was about eight months along and my belly was big and round. My long hair was pulled into a low pony-tail in order to keep it out of my face. My breast had gotten a little bigger of late, due to the fact that my body was making milk for my unborn child. I face had gotten a little paler and there are eye bags under my eyes. I hadn't been sleeping very well the past few days, but it didn't really bother me. I'm glad that I don't have morning sickness anymore.

Since the fight with Pitch, my life has been a blissful blur, all things considered. Mine and Jacks relationship has only gotten stronger in the past few months, and since it was summer in most places now, he had more time to see me. In the first few months of my pregnancy, we were both a little scared. Mostly because neither one of us knew what we were doing, or how to even take care of a baby, but my father offered his help. So far he has been very helpful, answering all of our questions and helping us prepare for the baby's arrival.

I still live with my father for the time being, which I'm so thankful for because I don't really have anywhere else to go. The other guardians have been doing there best to help as well. They check in on us, and they are always there when I need something.

North liked to read stories to the baby through my belly. Bunny kept bringing me chocolate, which is good because I have been craving it like crazy lately. Sandy tried to make sure I was getting enough sleep, which is probably why I don't mind that I haven't slept in a few days. Tooth mostly tries to help me when I'm being hormonal, a least when Jack's not there. He has been trying so hard, but I think that it's because he's nervous. But, in my opinion, we have both gotten a lot better at the whole being parents thing. So far anyways.

I affectionately rub my hand over my stomach, humming softly. I feel the baby kick back, bringing a smile to my lips. I begin to softly sing to my child, as I walk out of my room and into the living room which is decorated with baby shower decorations. It was Jack's idea to have one, because, as he said, every mother should have a baby shower for her baby. Jack wanted to make sure that I had as normal a life as possible, and the thought that he cared so much made me smile.

I look around the living room, but I don't see my dad. I then walk, more like waddle, towards the kitchen. I found my dad in the kitchen, making what looks like cookies. I look over to a plate full of them, and smile. They're in the shape of baby rattles with fancy decorations on them. Sometimes I think that my dad should have been a baker instead of a cook. He looks up from decorating and smiles at me.

"Hey honey. How ya feeling?" He asks, standing up straight and popping his back with a sigh. He puts down the icing and makes his way over to me, giving me a quick hug, kissing my forehead at the same time. He then runs a hand over my belly and sweetly talks to it, making me smile and laugh.

"I feel okay. Do you need any help?" I ask, looking at the half dozen cookies laying on the cookie sheet. I now see that they were sugar cookies, and they smell amazing. Seriously, why wasn't he a baker? Since I was young I new that he loved to bake things. Most of the time, baking is when we got to really bond.

"Na, I'm almost done anyway. But if you want to help, could you make some coffee please?" He asks, going back to decorating the cookies. I nod, and start getting the coffee pot ready, before pressing the go button. We always made sure that there was coffee ready when North came over. That man loves coffee.

I turn around and watch my dad all hunched over and a concentrated look on his face. I look over to my left and see a bowl of blue icing on the counter. I smile as an idea creeps into my head. I dip two of my fingers into the icing and hide them behind my back, as I try to put an innocent look on my face.

"Hey dad, I think you missed a spot." I say, pretending to be looking at the plate of cookies next to him. He looks at the plate immediately examining the cookies closely, before looking back at me with a confused look on his face.

"Where?" He asks, and I step closer to him, my smile coming back.

"Right here." I say as I pull my fingers from behind my back and spread the icing over his face. He looks at me with a shocked expression, mouth agape and eyes wide. But after a moment, he smiles at me.

"You know what," he reaches behind me, dipping his fingers into the icing before continuing, "I did miss a spot. But I think it was here." He says slowly, as he spreads the icing over my cheek and along my nose. I start laughing, and before I know it, an icing war has started. By the time we were done, we were both laughing like crazy, and icing was everywhere. The kitchen was defiantly a wreck now, and we didn't look to much better.

I had icing in my hair and all over my face and shirt. My dad looked much the same. We were now both leaning against the counters, breathing deeply. Small giggles were still escaping my mouth, as I feel the baby kick again. I run a hand over my stomach again, as if i was telling the baby that it was okay.

"You guys look like you're having fun." I hear a familiar voice say, and I look over by the back door to see Jack coming inside. He closes the door behind him and makes his way over to us. He kisses me on the forehead, which ends up leaving icing on his lips. He just licks them and gives an approving nod.

"She started it." My dad says, nudging me playfully.

"Guilty as charged." I say, laughing. My dad smiles at me, ruffling my iced hair, before he goes back to finish the cookies. Jack smiles at me, his hand running over my stomach out of habit. The baby kicked at his hand, as if sensing that it was him.

"Are you ready for today?" Jack asks me, and I nod, before looking down at my clothes.

"Yea, but I think I'd better go shower and get changed." I say, smiling. The icing was starting to dry up and I really didn't want to wear it all day. Besides, I was still in my pajama's, and I hated wearing them all day. Jack nods, and kisses the cheek that wasn't covered in icing. I waddle my way to the bathroom, grabbing some towels on the way, and lock the door behind me.

I turn on the hot water, and jump in as quickly as I could. The warm water felt amazing, as I washed up. Hot showers always helped me relax. Soon I was done, and I got out, wrapping a towel around my self. I made my way to my room, shutting the door behind me and drying off. I then went to my dresser to pull out a pair of blue maternity jeans, and a black tank top. I quickly got dressed and made my way back to the living room.

When I get there I see that everybody was here. Tooth looks flies over to me and pulls me into a hug. I return the favor, smiling at here gently when she pulls away. She smiles back at me, before she goes back to where she was a few seconds ago. North looks at me, smiling. He sets the cup of coffee he was drinking from down on the coffee table.

"She is glowing, yes?" He says to Bunny who agrees with a nod. I smile at them, and sit down on the couch next to Jack, who wraps his arm around my shoulder. I lean into him, and everyone just talks for a while. I love it when we can all come together like this, but everyone had busy schedules, with the holidays and such.

After awhile of playing games, talking, and laughing it was decided that it was time for the baby's gifts. North said that he wanted to go first and I just nodded at him. He whistled, and, two yetis came into the living room, carrying a large object that was covered up with a sheet.

"I made this, because all babies should have a nice place to sleep." He said, pulling the sheet off to reveal a beautiful wooden crib. The bars all had fancy designed on them, and it was stained a dark chocolate brown. All in all it was an amazing crib, and it awed me. _How long had it taken him to build this?_ I wondered to myself.

"It's wonderful! Thank you so much." I said to North, smiling at him sincerely. He smiled back and told the yetis to move it into one of the corners of the living room. Jack thanked him as well and complimented Norths handy work, which North made smile as he sat down.

Next was Sandy's turn. He smiled at us and held up his index finger before he started twirling his hands together. Gold sleeping dust started to swirl in between his hands, slowly forming a shape. At first it was hard to tell what it was, but eventually I could make out what looked like a crib mobile. As the shape finished forming, I could see it turning into plastic, so that it would fall apart if you touched it to much. I looked at it and smiled. It has gold flakes in the white stem leading up to little furry animals that are hanging from it. Sandy then winds it up, and as it starts to rotate and a lullaby plays, I see that little streams of the sleeping dust are coming down from the animals and floating towards the ground.

"So the little tyke can have good dreams, huh?" Bunny says from behind Sandy, who smiles and nods.

"It's perfect, thank you Sandy." He smiles at me and floats over and waves at my stomach, a heart made of the dream sand floating above his head. I laugh and smile at him, thanking him again. He nods and floats back towards Tooth, who excitedly announces that she wants to go next. This makes me laugh more, before motioning for her to go ahead. She flies over to us, and pulls out a small tattered teddy bear with a button nose and two black eyes on it. It is one of the cutest things I have seen.

"This is one of my toys from when I was a child. I somehow managed to find it after I became a guardian, and I think that the little one should have it." She said, handing it to me, and I look down at it before looking back up at her, my eyes brimmed with tears. The fact that she wants to give the baby something with this kind of sentimental value just made my heart flutter. I pulled her down into a hug, which she returned with a smile. After a moment, we broke apart, and I wiped the tears from my eyes.

"Thank you Tooth. I know that the baby is going to love this, because her aunt gave it to her." Tooth smiled wide at me and ran her thumb along my cheek, capturing some of the tears that got away from me. She kissed my forehead before she flew back to sit by Sandy. Bunny then stands up, and I look over at him. He taps his foot on the ground, opening a tunnel, and a small blanket seemingly floats up into his hands. He holds it out so that we can all see it, and I let out an astonished gasp. The blanket itself is crocheted, and is made up of bright spring colors. There are little decorative flowers on it, each a different color and type of flower.

"This should keep the little one warm, and maybe it'll give her some hope when she needs it." Bunny says, and I smile thankfully at him. It was perfect. Everything about today has been perfect, and I couldn't as for better friends.. No, for a better family. That's what this has become in the past few months. A family.

"It'll give us all hope that she will grow up happily. Thank you." I say to him and he smiles back at me, as he sits back down. As everyone goes back to talking about the gifts, giving each other compliments and asking questions about them, I lean my head against Jack's shoulder.

He kisses the top of my head, his hand rubbing my belly again. I begin to hum softly out of habit, and Jack begins to hum with me. I feel absolutely happy and comfortable right now, and I'm pretty sure nothing could change that. I had a good feeling about everything that was happening in my life. The baby on the way, Jack's and mine relationship, and our relationship with everyone else in our lives.

After about an hour of more talking, everyone started to say their goodbyes, as it was getting late and we all needed our sleep. And by that I mean that everyone was telling me that I needed to get some rest. This of course only made me laugh as I hugged them. I waved as I watched them leave the house, with a call to tell them to visit soon.

After everyone had left, I shut the front door, and waddled my way to the kitchen to tell my dad goodnight. He was cleaning up the kitchen, but when he noticed me, he set the bowl on the counter and hugged me. He kissed the top of my head before telling me goodnight, me returning the favor.

I then walked towards my bedroom, and I find Jack sitting on the bed waiting for me. I smile at him before I begin to get ready for bed. I change into another set of pj's and I brush my hair, before crawling into bed the best I could in my pregnant state. Jack got in next to me, and gave me a peck on the lips before he turned out the lamp on the night stand next to him. He then wrapped his arms around me as best he could, and before we knew it, we were drifting of into sleep.

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**A/N Well, there you have it. I hope you guys enjoyed it, and I'll see you next time. Until then, stay awesome! XD**


	2. Nightmares

**A/N Hey guys! Here is the second chapter of the story. A few things before we get started. The first is that the words in italic are Jamie's dream/nightmare. The second is that, in my mind, Jamie would be around 13, or 14. Anyway, onto the second chapter, hope you enjoy it! ^^**

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~Jamie's POV~

_It's dark all around me, and I feel completely alone. I try to feel my way around the darkness, but my hands keep grasping the thin air that seems to be every which way around me. As I continue to reach out desperately for anything solid, my arms start to become sluggish. They're getting tired and my muscles are burning, as if I had been lifting something heavy. Soon, I'm unable to move them at all, and panic starts to set it. _

_I try walking next, but when I take a step I feel nothing but air beneath my feet. It's as if I'm floating in the middle of a black hole. Nothing in front of me, nothing behind me. The fact that most of my limbs aren't working anymore only adds to my panic._

_Suddenly I feel like I'm falling downwards into the darkness. My mouth is opened in a silent scream as I feel ]wind whipping against my face, and my pajama's. I close my eyes tightly, trying desperately to block out everything that's happening. It feels like an eternity before I finally stop falling, landing roughly on something solid. _

_I open my eyes, and I have to blink them at the brightness. I support my upper body on my elbows so I could look around my new surroundings. It looks like I'm on top of a large building. There's nothing else on the roof, besides a door on the side opposite from me. _

_Once again, I found myself alone. __I force myself into a sitting position, before I try to get to my feet. I have to fight with my limbs to get them to move, and it feels like forever before they comply. I finally manage to get to my feet, my legs wobbling._

_ The hot sun is beating down on me, causing sweat to gather on my forehead. I try to take a step towards the door, and once again, my limbs are sluggish. But at least I'm able to move. I take another shaky step, then another, and another. My eyes are focused on the concrete beneath me, almost begging that it doesn't disappear.  
_

_When I glimpse at the direction of the door, it seems even farther away than before. A choked sob of frustration finds it's way out of my throat. I'm not getting any closer to the destination that I was trying to get to in the first place! In fact, I feel like I've been walking backwards this entire time._

_"Jamie?" I hear a familiar voice ask in an echoing whisper. I look over to my right, and I see Jack standing on the short railing surrounding the roof. Except there's something wrong with Jack. He looks sad, as if something truly bad has happened to him. He looks at me and I can see that the spark that has always been in his eyes before is gone. He looks like somebody has sucked out his very soul. _

_"Jack, what's wrong?" I ask, my voice coming out barley audible and scratchy. He gives me a fake smile, before he looks back towards the ground below. My fear comes back as I realize what's happening. My heart starts beating faster, and I force my legs to move faster and faster until I'm running towards him. Just before he steps of the ledge my hand reaches out to his, doing my best to pull him back._

_Despite__ my efforts his foot slips off of the edge, his body falling downwards. The only thing that stops him from making that plummet is the fact that I'm now holding tightly to his wrist with both of my hands. I'm leaning slightly over the edge now, my chest pressed flat against the edge of the building. My arms are struggling to keep their hold on Jack's wrist. _

_"Jamie.." Jack says look up at me. "Let go." His voice echos inside of my head, repeating itself over and over. As it slowly fades away I realize that I've changed positions with Jack. Now he's the one holding me away from the danger below. I look up at him with pleading eyes, but I'm met only with his empty ones. _

_I watch as he silently lips something to me, and though there are no words coming out of his mouth, I know exactly what his saying. He's telling me to 'let go.' On the inside I feel my panic rising even more. This isn't Jack, it can't be! Jack would never do something like this! _

_He keeps telling me to let go, and I feel my hands slowly start to loosen around his wrist against my will. It's as if somebody else is in control of my body. I start to slip downwards, inwardly pleading that my grip will tighten back up and that he'll pull me back over. And, as if in defiance with me, my hands fully release their grip on his wrist._

_Everything is happening in slow motion now, as I fall towards the concrete below. I watch as Jack slowly fades out of my vision, another silent scream escaping my throat. I can hear the wind rushing by me again, but I don't feel it this time, and soon I can hear the sounds of cars. _

_I can hear the sound of the engines revving, car horns sounding, and __tires squealing. I know that I'm getting closer to the ground, and at any moment I knew that I would crash down upon it. Fear spreads throughout my entire being, paralyzing me. And just before I hit the ground, I wake up._

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I sit up in my bed quickly, gasping for breath. I hold a hand over my racing heart as I look around the room. The sun was shining brightly through the window, and my door is cracked open. Seeing the sunlight holds some comfort for me, as if it was saying that it was only a dream. I try to tell myself that, in hopes that I would calm down a little bit more, but I'm having a hard time believing it right now.

Everything about that dream had felt so real, and it left this unsettling feeling in the pit of my stomach. Maybe it was just because this is the first nightmare I've had in months. I had almost forgotten how horrible those things made you feel, no matter how old you are.

"Jamie, time to get ready for school!" My mom yells from downstairs, snapping me out of my thoughts. I yell an okay back to her, and fold back the covers. Maybe one of my friends could help me figure out what this nightmare was about at school. Hopefully they can help me calm my nerves down a little bit too.

I quickly get dressed, and throw my book bag over my shoulder. I make my way downstairs and into the kitchen. I grab an apple off the table and take a bite of it. My mom looks over at me, and gives me a worried look. She can always tell when I'm upset or if something's wrong.

"Are you okay, honey? You're looking kind of pale." She says, walking over and putting a hand on my forehead.

"I'm fine, I just had a bad dream. I'd better get going though, or I'll be late. I'll see you later mom!" I yell as I walk out of the door. I hear her call a 'goodbye' to me before I shut the door behind me. I take another bite of the apple and make my way to the junior high school a few blocks over.

It only takes me around ten minutes to get there, and I walk in the front doors. I throw away the apple core as I make my way through the noisy hallways, and towards my locker. Once I'm there, I unlock it and take a few books, a pencil bag, and a notebook out, before shoving my backpack into it.

After that, I walk towards the cafeteria, since it was the usual meeting place for the group. I'm glad that I don't have to walk a long way, since my locker is practically right across from the cafeteria. I push my way through the steady stream of kids walking by, before pushing the door open.

I look around at all the tables, spotting my friends at the other side of the cafeteria. I make my way over to the table, setting my things down on the table once I got there. I look around at my friends, and they all look like they've been awake for days. I look at Cupcake, who has dark spots under her eyes.

"You guys haven't been sleeping very well either?" I ask, and they look at me, most of them shaking their heads at me.

"We all had nightmares over the weekend. I asked around, and, apparently, a lot of other kids have been having them too." Pippa said, looking down at the table. I furrowed my eyebrows together in confusion. If this many kids were all having nightmares around the same time, than something was defiantly going on.

"This just can't be a coincidence. It's all connected, I just know it." I say, looking at the other's in the group. They all nod in agreement, and everyone goes silent for a moment. Claude is the first to speak up this time.

"Should we, you know, tell one of the guardians?" He asks, looking around at the table. I instantly think of Jack, but then images from my nightmare flash in front of my eyes. I shallowly gulp, reliving some moments of my dream from last night. All I can do is nod lightheartedly, not really paying attention at the moment.

"Jamie?" Cupcake asks snapping me out of my thoughts. I give her a confused look, which she returns with a sigh.

"What do you think we should do? It's summer, so the chances of us seeing Jack again for a little while aren't that good." She asked, and I can tell by the tone of her voice that it wasn't the first time she had said this to me. I open my mouth, but close it again when nothing comes out. She makes a good point, but Jack usually visits us a couple times a month.

_And If he doesn't come visit in the next few days, then what? _I ask myself. I bite my bottom lip, and my eyebrows furrow together as I think. There must be someway that we can get a hold of him.. But how... Then it hits me. In the past few months, Jack would bring Rose to visit, and we actually had a lot in common. She had given me her number, so that we could still talk when her pregnancy stopped her from coming and seeing me. Just as I was about to tell the others what was happening the bell rang.

"Don't worry guys, I can get a hold of Jack." I said, grabbing my stuff, and waving to them. They all summered goodbyes with confused looks on their faces. I turned around and quickly walked to class, already impatient for the school day to be over with. Since I didn't have a cell phone, I had to use the home phone. In which case, I was mostly lucky, because today was early release.

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**A/N I feel horrible about that nightmare! I'm also sorry if that part of the chapter triggered any unwanted emotions by all of you. But I promise the story will not be that sad, or horrible, all the way through. I just needed to get the plot started. I, once again, apologize if that triggered anybody.. I will try to get the next chapter up as soon as possible. Until then, stay awesome everybody.**


	3. I need to tell you

**A/N Hey guys! I'm sorry that I haven't updated in awhile. There has just been so much going on in my life lately that I couldn't find the time to sit down and wright. Please forgive me! I will try to update sooner next time, but no promises. I will try though. Anyway, enough of that. Let's get on with the story, shall we? ^-^**

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~Rose's POV~

I'm sitting on the couch in our living room, re-reading a book that I had already read over fifty times. It was one of my favorites, and I had almost every single word memorized. I still loved reading it though, even though I already knew what was going to happen, and how it was going to end. I had been reading this book for most of the day, not wanting to tear my eyes away from it since I picked it up. I was always like this when it came to books. I will read for hours at a time, and at the end of the day, I like to look back and see how much I've actually read. It gives me an accomplished feeling to know that I can read over a hundred pages in a day.

I was nearing the end of the book though, and I had been sitting on the couch for a little while. I didn't want to put the book down, but I was getting hungry, and I knew that I had to get something to eat soon. The last time that I foolishly didn't eat when I noticed that I was getting hungry, I ended up getting sick. That happened to me when I wasn't pregnant too, but it has gotten worse now that I'm am pregnant.

I sigh as I put my bookmark in place and set the book to the side. I push my self to stand up, which is no easy task, but I manage it. I would have been easier if my dad, or Jack, was around to help me, but both of them are gone. They went to go do something or another, and I didn't argue. I'm happy that they spend time together so that they can bond. It helps me feel easier about dating somebody, when I know that my dad likes them.

I rub my lower back a little as I begin to waddle to the kitchen. I walk to the fridge and open the door. There wasn't much in the fridge that actually looked good to me, so I close it and open the freezer instead. There's a few pizzas, some TV dinners, uncooked meat, pizza rolls, and some vegetables inside. I only had to think on it for a moment before I grabbed the pizza rolls.

I get a pan out of one of the cabinets and set it on the stove. I then flip of the bag of pizza rolls and read the directions. Then I preheat the oven to 450 degrees, and I tear open the bag. I spread the pizza rolls out as evenly as I could, because the cookie sheet is small-ish. I roll up the bag and put what's left of the pizza rolls back into the freezer. Then I make my way to the other side of the kitchen to get a glass of water while the oven preheats.

I walk around a little bit as I take small sips of the water. Sitting for so long had made me a little stiff, so I'm actually thankful that I had to get up. Not before to long, I hear the oven beep, telling me that it's time to put in the pizza rolls. I make my way back to the kitchen and open the oven. I set the pizza rolls inside and then I set the timer for fifteen minutes. I resume my pacing as my mind starts to wander.

I wonder what's going to happen when the baby comes. I'm completely happy with my life right now, but sometimes I get scared. I get scared because I know that things like Pitch will never go away completely, and I want to keep my little girl safe from things like that. I've had multiple nightmares about this, most of them were about me waking up and finding the baby gone. Then it turns out that she was taken by Pitch. I wake up sweating and in a frenzy, but Jack usually calms me down by saying that Pitch hasn't gained any of his power back yet.

I want to believe him, but I have a nagging fear that the past eight months have just been a short break. I feel like there's going to be another storm soon, and I don't think I'm prepared for it this time. Granted I wasn't prepared for the last one either, but I'm at more of a disadvantage this time. And I know that those around me are at a disadvantage to. I know that something bad will happen again, and I hope that we can pull through if it does happen.

I hear the oven go off, and it brings me out of my thoughts. I make my way back to the kitchen and get out some oven mitts. I pull out the pizza rolls, and set them on top of the stove before I turn off the oven. I set the oven mitts down before grabbing a plate and a spatula. I scoop some of the pizza rolls onto the plate, and then I pull the ranch out of the fridge. I pour some of the ranch onto the side of the plate, and put the ranch back into the fridge.

I then grab the plate and waddle over to the kitchen table. I sit down with a sigh, and breath for a few seconds, before I pick up one of the rolls. As I start to blow on it, to cool it off, I feel hear my phone start going off in my pocket. I set the pizza roll down and pull out my phone, curious as to who was calling me. I see a picture of Jamie that I had taken of him when we were hanging out awhile back. I don't think twice as I answer the phone.

"Hey bud. What's going on?" I ask.

"Hey Rose.. umm.. I was wondering if Jack was around?" I hear him ask, and from the tone of his voice I know that something's wrong. It's not his usually cheery tone, but more of a stressed tone. It's safe to say that a few alarms went off in my head.

"Jamie, what's wrong?" I ask, my tone now filled with worry. I hear him take a deep few breaths before he answers me.

"I had a really bad nightmare last night, and I didn't think much of it. Mostly because I figured that it was normal to have one every now and then. But when I got to school, I noticed that everyone was kinda gloomy. So I asked the others what was going on, and they told me that almost everyone has been having nightmares all weekend." He says in a rush, and it takes my mind a moment to catch up. Once it does, I sit in shock for a moment.

Even if Pitch was getting stronger, he couldn't possibly have that much strength yet. It took him a little over a year to regain what little powers he had the last time we beat him. But who else could be doing this? I'm the only other person who shared his powers, and I only use my powers when necessary. It must be Pitch, but how is he gaining his strength back so soon? It just doesn't make any sense.

Is there a possibility that I'm doing this unintentionally? I tried to experiment with my powers in the past few months, just to see how much I could do. I never gave anybody nightmares though, and nobody really knew what I was doing. I think that my dad had ideas, but he ever said anything about it. I like to think that it's because he knows that I would never hurt somebody, especially a child, on purpose.

What if, by practicing, I helped Pitch get stronger? I honestly didn't think I was hurting anybody by seeing how far I could go. And I haven't summoned any nightmares since the night we defeated Pitch. I assumed it was to dangerous. My temples start to throb, as my thoughts are frantically trying to find an answer. My mind jumps back to Jamie, and I know how scared he must be. I needed to be there with him, to make sure nothing happens to him.

"Jamie, just hold on. I'll be there in a moment." I say, and he mutters and 'okay' before hanging up the phone. I put the phone back into my pocket and stand up. I search the house for a pen and some paper, to leave a not for the boys. I find the necessary items and return to the table to start writing. Once I'm done I put the note into a place that I know they will find it. Then I lock the doors, and slip on my shoes.

I take a few deep breaths to calm my nerves, as I let my eyes slide close. My hands go to sit protectively over my stomach as I start to concentrate. I focus Jamie's house, and I feel the black sand start to crawl around me, engulfing me. Then I feel it start to release me from it's grip, and I open my eyes to see the Bennett house.

I walk up to the door and knock on it. I wait patiently for Jamie's mother to answer the door. Once she see's my face she smiles, and welcomes me into her home. I like Jamie's mother, she was a nice person and she always treated me like part of the family. She even told me that she thought of me as a daughter, and that made me so happy.

She offered to get me something to drink, but I politely refused. I don't think I could stomach anything right now. She smiled at me again, told me that Jamie was up in his room. I thanked her and started to head up the stairs towards his room.

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~Jack's POV~

The wind sets me down gently next to Rose's dad's car, that's now parked in the small driveway. I tried to ride inside the car when the two of us first took off, but I felt cramped inside the small space so I decided that I would glide next to the car instead. Rose's dad didn't seem to mind to much. In fact, he seemed to understand very well what I was talking about.

We went out to a couple of stores to look at some things, and he gave me his honest opinion on everything. That in itself is why I wanted him to come. He wouldn't beat around the bush, and I respect him for being able to do that. Then we went to some clothing stores to pick out some outfits for the baby. Not that she really needed any more clothes. Between Rose, her dad, the other guardians, and myself, she lots of clothes. But it was still fun to buy more cute outfits for her.

Rose's dad got out of the car, and then went to the door. I followed him and watched as he pulled out his keys to unlock the door. I quirk and eyebrow at that, knowing that we left the door unlocked when we left. _Did Rose leave?_ I think, but I dismiss the notion. She's must of locked the door because she wanted to take a shower or something.

Rose's dad fiddles with the keys for a moment, before finding the right one and unlocking the door. We step inside of the house, and I set my staff up against the wall by the door. I didn't see much point of carrying it around the house.

"You want some coffee Jack?" He asks me as he starts walking towards the kitchen. I walk casually behind him, and I lean up against the counter as I see him get the coffee pot ready.

"I'm good, but thanks. And thank you for helping me out today to." I say to him. I'm truthfully thankful for all of his help in the past few weeks. God knows that I could never have gotten this much done without him.

"It's no problem at all. I just want you and Rose to be happy in anyway possible. I also want to try and help you two hold onto that happiness in anyway I can." He says smiling at me, and I can't help but smile back at him. He has always tried to be nice to me, and he always tries to help me out whenever I need it. He also gives me advice, or will willingly answer questions that I have. I think that Rose is very lucky to have this man as her father.

I turn to go sit down at the table and I notice two things. The first is the plate of untouched Pizza rolls. I find this odd, because Rose isn't the kind of person to just abandon food. Not unless something happened of course. The second is a note that's laying on the table. I walk over and pick it up. I reads:

_Dad,_  
_I'm at Jamie's house. Something happened. So, if you two get back before I do, please send Jack this way. I have my cell, and sorry that I left without much notice. _  
_Rose_

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**A/N And I end it there for now because I'm starting to get writers block. But tell me what you guys think about the newest chapter, and I'll chat with y'all later! Stay awesome you guys! ^^**


	4. We need to talk

**A/N Hey guys! You thought I was dead, didn't you? Okay, so I can explain why I didn't update in so long. Our internet was down for the past while, and I couldn't find a place to upload. But we got our internet back, and so I hope that it stays up this time. Anyway, here is the fourth chapter of Black Rose. I hope that you all enjoy.**

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~Jack's POV~

I weave in and out of streets, and swerve around people as I fly towards Jamie's house. I don't even pay attention to the trail of frost, ice, and snow that I'm leaving behind. I know that people will come up with some scientific reason for it to snow in the middle of summer.

I left as soon as I could after reading the note that Rose had written. I'm a few blocks away from Jamie's house, and I push the wind to go faster. I can't shake the feeling in my gut that told me something terrible was going on.

As I rush through the blocks, I finally see Jamie's house at the end of the block. I focus on his open window, as I start to slow down. It wouldn't do any good to zoom into the room and hit the wall. Finally, I make it to the window, and I slip inside of the room with ease. It comes from the practice of doing it so many times before.

I look at Jamie's bed, where he and Rose are currently sitting. Jamie's head is resting on Rose's shoulder, and her left arm is wrapped protectively around his shoulder. Rose glances at me as I lean my staff against the wall and walk over to them. I gently sit on the other side of Jamie and put my hand on his shoulder, careful not to cover it in frost.

"What happened?" I ask, looking at Rose. She gives Jamie's shoulder a tight squeeze, and then a kiss on the forehead. Jamie nods before he looks over at me. He takes a breathe before he starts to tell me about the recent events. I wait patiently until he's done telling me about his dream, and the fact that the other kids are having nightmares as well.

To say that his dream greatly disturbed me was a bit of an understatement. To think that I would ever do anything like that that to Jamie made me feel nauseated. I was attached to him, as much as he was to me, and not because he was the first kid to believe in me. I watched him mature from a young kid into a pre-teen. Over the short time we have known each other Jamie has become like a little brother to me. I would do anything I could to protect him.

"I think Jamie is right. This isn't just a coincidence. Something's going on, but every idea I can think of just doesn't make sense. If Pitch _was _regaining power again, he wouldn't be this strong yet. But that would mean either two things. Either Pitch is working through someone, like he tried to do with me, or there is somebody out there who doing this by themselves. Both ideas are insane. As far as we know, the only ones who can create, and use, nightmares are Pitch and me." Rose says, looking at me. She then rubs her temple with her free hand. She must have given this some real thought to get so stressed out.

"It's puzzling, to be sure. Maybe we should track down Pitch, just to make sure he's not up to anything. He's the most plausible suspect in all of this. In fact, he's the only suspect in this. I have no doubt that you're not the one who is doing all of this. We should probably talk to the other guardians about it first though. Maybe they will have some more ideas on what's going on, and they need to be filled in anyway." I say, and Rose nods. She looks back at Jamie and gives him another hug before ruffling his hair.

"Don't worry Jamie. We will make sure that whatever is going on is stopped. But it might take us a little while, so I need your help. I need you to try and keep your spirits up, okay? We'll all be stronger with you and your friends behind us." Rose tells him. He does his best to give her a smile as he nods. Rose laughs and ruffles his hair again.

"I'll be back to check on you as soon as I can, okay bud?" I tell him as I walk over to grab my staff. I look back at him as he nods his head at me as well. I give him a smile, and then turn to Rose.

"Are you going to be okay getting home?" I ask her. This is one of the very few times she used the black sand to travel, and it worried me every time she used it. But, in a situation like this, I didn't really see what else we could do. I couldn't carry her all the way home because of her pregnancy, and She didn't have a car to get home. That left a total of two options. She could use the black sand, or she would have to walk all the way home. The later was completely out of the question. So that meant that she would have to use the black sand.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine. I'll meet you there in just a little while, okay?" She says, and I nod with a sigh. She gives me a kiss on the cheek and turns to walk out of Jamie's door. I say another goodbye to Jamie, and then I grab my staff. I jump out of the open window and catch a drift home.

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~Rose's POV~

I walk down the stairs, and towards the door. I say goodbye to Jamie's mother and sister on the way out of the house. Jamie's mother makes me promise not to stay away so long next time, and I give her my word to try and visit more. I then walk out of the front door, and into the bright sunlight.

I walk down the walkway to the sidewalk, and then I follow the sidewalk until I come across a dark alleyway. Normally, I wouldn't go into such a place, but I wanted to be careful not to let anybody see me use the black sand to transport myself. That would defiantly be an interesting headline to see on the local news. I go into the alleyway and glance in both directions to make sure that nobody was watching. I then close my eyes and focus on my destination. I feel the sand start to wrap itself around me, a feeling that was becoming more and more familiar.

When I open my eyes again, I'm standing in the middle of mine and Jack's bedroom. I give a sigh of relief to finally be home, and then turn to leave the room. I shut the door behind me and set off in search of my dad. I know he's around here somewhere. I look in the kitchen, but he's not in there. Next is the living room. I walk around the corner and see him sitting on the couch, holding the note that I had written. His face is in one of his hands, and I can practically feel the stress radiating off of him.

"Dad?" I say quietly, but loud enough so that he can hear me. He jumps and turns around quickly. Relief floods his face as he sees me, and he quickly stands. He rushes over to me, and wraps me in a bear hug. I hug him back the best I can, and after a few minutes he loosens his grip. He leans back and looks into my eyes, and I can see all of the worry that I caused him to have.

"Are you okay? You know that I get worried when you run off like that. Even if it was important, I don't want anything to happen to you." He says softly, his thumb now brushing the side of my face. Even though he didn't say it aloud, I know that he was mostly worried that I used my powers. He said that it worried him so much because he didn't want to see me end up like Pitch. I feel horrible for worrying him like this, but I didn't know what else I could have done. Jamie needed me, and I didn't know when dad and Jack would have gotten back from where ever they went. So it's not like I could just sit there and wait for them to get back, when Jamie needed me.

"I'm sorry that I worried you dad. I know that you don't like me leaving the house on such short notice. Or the fact that I did it with magic, but Jamie needed me. I didn't have any other way to get to him, so I did whatever I could to get to him." I tell him in the most sincere way that I could. He sighs and gives me a fake half smile. I know he's just doing it so that I won't worry about him, but I could always see through his fake smiles. I'll have to find someway to make this up to him. I don't like to disappoint my dad, because I feel like I let myself down as well.

Just as my dad lets me go, I hear the door open. I turn to see Jack walking through the door. He walks over to us and then starts to fill my dad in on everything that we found out through Jamie. As Jack is filling him in, I start to raid the kitchen. The adrenaline rush I had earlier due to Jamie's call, was now gone and the dull throbbing of hunger was setting back in. I find the pizza rolls that I had made earlier sitting in the fridge. I pull them out and then I pop them into the microwave. Once they're done, I get then out and sit at the table with dad and Jack. The two migrated this way as they were talking back and forth. So far, they haven't come up with any new ideas as to who could be doing this.

"I think we better call the others here. They need to know what's happening as soon as possible." Dad says. Jack nods and stands. He grabs his staff and walks out the back door. I pop a pizza roll in my mouth and follow him outside. I love seeing him do this, though I've only had the chance of seeing him do this a small handful of times. I don't like the circumstances that he is doing this under though. Usually he only called the other guardians because he needed to talk to them about upcoming weather changes, or they all needed to plan things out for upcoming holidays.

The sun is setting now, and it causes the world to have a honey glow. I can hear kids of all ages playing throughout the neighborhood, and I smell the heavenly scent of barbeques. The world seems so at peace with its self right now, but I can't shake the nagging feeling that soon, it won't bee as happy-go-lucky as it is now. I know that it's of the utmost importance that we find out who is behind all of this. I don't want my baby to come into the world that is depressing and gloom. A world where people are afraid all of the time. That's not what I want.

Jack walks into the middle of the yard, and then takes a deep breath. He holds his staff firmly with both hands in front of him. He slowly raises it into the air as high as he can, and I can feel the power radiating off of him. A blue orb with white veins slowly materializes on the top of is staff where the loop is. The orb grows until it's as big as a soccer ball. Then a white beam bursts from the top of it, and shoots into the sky. Once it hits the clouds, a circle expands across the sky, followed by a light snowfall. The snow is melting before it reaches the top of the house. Jack told me that he had to practice that part a lot before he finally got it down. He told me that the first time he tried this, he cause a blizzard in three countries. Almost every meteorologist in the world is still scratching there heads about it.

Jack lowers his staff and turns around. He starts heading back towards the house to wait for the other guardians to arrive. I start to turn around to follow him, but something catches my attention out of the corner of my eye. I turn my head to see the faint outline of the moon. I turn the rest of my body to fully face the man in the moon. He should defiantly be able to give us some clues as to what's going. That is, if he will talk to me back.

"We have some talking to do when you wake up." I say before walking back into the house to join the others in waiting.

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**A/N Well, there you have it. I hope that it wasn't to horrible and that the grammar was somewhat good. ^^ Well, tell me what you think, and I will try to update as soon as possible. Until next time you guys. Stay awesome! XD**


	5. Not Safe for you

**A/N Hey guys. I told you that I would update sooner this time. lol. ^^ I hope that you guys are really enjoying the story so far. I'm sorry for my horrible grammar, as always. I hope that you guys don't mind it that much, if it does, I'm sorry. Anyway, for those of you who actually read the authors note, I have something to tell you. I did not name my OC after Rose, in the movie 'Titanic.' I didn't even realize that I did it, until somebody pointed it out to me. I named my OC Rose, because I thought that it would be original, and I wanted something that I could work into the title. Okay, end of rant-thingy. I hope you guys enjoy the fifth chapter. XD**

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~Rose's POV~

I'm sitting quietly on the couch next to Jack, slowly sipping some coffee that I had made. I had a craving for it after I came back into the house. The hot caffeine is also helping with the headache that started earlier in the day, but is now a full blown migraine. I ate a few of the Pizza rolls, but my appetite didn't last for very long. I hated it when I felt hungry, but after a few bites, I'm full. Maybe it's because of all of the stress from today. Maybe the baby just doesn't want pizza rolls anymore. It could be either, but I don't want to sort it out right now.

Now, Jack, dad, and myself are waiting for the other guardians to arrive. There wasn't much talking going on, but I don't think anybody minds. We were all probably using this time to think things out for our selves. I didn't really want to think about it anymore, to be honest. I have already thought about this whole situation so much, that I think I might be starting to over think it. Anther reason I didn't want to think about it anymore was because I didn't see a real point in doing so. The three of us have already hammered the ideas we came up with to death. And even though we now had a plan to track down Pitch, we couldn't actually put the plan into motion without the other guardians. It would be way to dangerous to do it by ourselves. I put down the cup of coffee and start rubbing my temples. God, this migraine just wouldn't quit!

I look over to the large window that sits in the middle of the wall by the front door. The sky was darker than before. The sun must be nothing but a slim line across the sky by now. This was good. That meant that soon I would be questioning the man in the moon. That is, after the migraine subsides, and the guardians are filled in on what's going on. I wonder if they already know what's happening. I'm not really sure how this stuff works, because last time I was kind of thrown into the middle of the battle. I have no idea if the guardians knew that Pitch had been up to something, or if he caught them by surprise too.

I take a deep breath and try to get my mind onto other things. But, just as I started to think about what we had left to do with the nursery, the front door opened. In stepped North, a few elves following closely behind him. North had a worried expression on his face, which helped show the many years he must have spent dedicated to the children of the world. The elves instantly ran into the middle of the living room, and started to eat the Pizza rolls that I had left on the coffee table. North walked in big strides to the arm chair that sat across from the love seat that Jack and I were currently sitting on.

"I got here soon as I could. Had to give yetis commands on how to run factory." North said, motioning with his hands. I'm tempted to smile at the thought of the yetis. They were always doing something that would translate into funny. Like the time they dumped a plate of cookies on Bunny because he refused to eat them. Bunny said something about not wanting Christmas cookies, when Christmas was over. But however tempting it was to smile, my face muscles didn't get the memo. I continued to frown, and just let my mind wander about all of the things the yetis did.

The room was silent again, because we all agreed to wait for the other guardians before explaining what happened. It wouldn't do a whole lot of good to keep explaining everything over and over again. And besides, I didn't feel like telling my part of the story more times than absolutely necessary. I already had a migraine, and I'm sure that repetition would only make it worse at this point.

After what felt like hours, the other guardians start to show up. First, it was Tooth, with Baby Tooth trailing behind her like always. Then came Bunny, but thankfully, he didn't bring the giant stone eggs that lived in, and guarded, the warren. After that, Sandy came in through the back door. He tried his best to explain that he was late because he needed to give the kids there dreams for the night. Tooth hovered by North, while Sandy sat next to my dad on the sofa. Bunny sat on his haunches in front of the TV. The elves were kept busy by Baby Tooth, who kept stealing their Pizza rolls and flying off with them.

"Okay, can somebody please tell me why we are all here?" Bunny said, crossing his arms. He wasn't very happy that we had called him when he just started to plan things out for next Easter. I sat forward on the couch, well as much as I could with my pregnant belly, and rested my elbows on my knees.

"Jack called you because we think that Pitch is back again." I said, and everybody in the room exchanged worried glances, but it soon turned to disbelief. I wait to see if anybody wanted to say something before I continued, "Jamie called me today, and he seemed distraught. He asked if he could talk to Jack, but he wasn't here, so I had to go to Jamie's house. When I got there, Jamie told me that a lot of the kids at his school said that they are having nightmares again. Apparently, they all started having them around the beginning of last weekend."

"If that's true, wouldn't Sandy have noticed that some of his dreams weren't getting through to the kids?" Said Tooth.

"I don't know, but Jack told me that Pitch had corrupted some dreams before anybody had noticed once before. Who's to say he can't do it again?" I said, trying to reason with logic. Tooth bit her lip and started to hover around in thought.

"I don't understand. Pitch can't be anywhere near strong enough to be doing this again." Bunny said, tapping his right foot. I could tell that he was slightly agitated, but I've gotten used to him being like this. I know consider it apart of his personality.

"Exactly. It doesn't make any sense at all. But we've already thought long and hard about every other possibility, and the only one that makes any sense is that Pitch is back. Even if the idea is crazy, it's the only one we've got." Jack said, addressing not only Bunny, but all of the guardians. I heard North sigh from where he was sitting. Then I watched him lean forward in his chair as well.

"So, what should we do then?" He asked, looking around the room. Everybody glanced at each other. Then, without even speaking, everyone seemed to know exactly what we needed to do.

"We have to track down Pitch to see if he is, in fact, the one who is behind it this time." Tooth said from across the room. Every body nods simultaneously in agreement. And just like that, we started to hatch out a plan on how to track down Pitch. It turns out that it would be a lot easier than I originally thought. I thought that it would take weeks to find him, but I was informed that it would only take a day or two.

The majority of the time would be spent trying to find the entrance to his lair. The guardians said that it constantly moved, in order to protect Pitch. So, the we needed to decide where to look first. It could be anywhere in the world for all we knew. This is why I went to the closet and pulled out the giant world map that me and my dad used when we went on road trips. I spread the map out on the coffee table, so that everyone could see it.

"Okay, were should we look first?" I asked. When nobody responded, I looked up from the map to see if everyone had disappeared or something. Everybody was still sitting there, but they were all looking at me with a bewildered expression.

"What?" I asked looking back and forth between all of them. I felt a hand on my shoulder, and turned my head to look at Jack. I looked into his eyes, which were looking back at me with a gentle expression. I have a feeling that I'm not going to like the next words that come out of his mouth.

"I don't think that it would be a good idea if you helped on this one. It's just too dangerous, and I don't want you, or the baby, to get hurt. None of us want to see you get hurt." Jack said, and I could instantly tell that he meant it. He had a good point, but it still didn't change the fact that I wanted to help.

"Under any other circumstances, would be happy to have you with us, mate." Said Bunny. I know that he's just trying to help, but I have this gut feeling that I need to help them. I look down at the ground, and breath out a sigh. No matter how much I argued with them, they still wouldn't let me help out. Don't get me wrong, I want to argue and say that everything will be just fine, but I don't see the point. It would only add to the stress that we are facing right now, and I didn't want to put unneeded pressure on them. They did, after all, have work to do.

"Okay, then were should you guys look first?" I asked, putting emphasis on the 'you' to let them know that I had backed down. They all seemed a relieved, except for Jack. When I looked back at him, I could see the slight mistrust in his eyes. I couldn't blame him for not really trusting me though. It wouldn't be the first time that I did something against there wishes. Like the time that I decided it would be a good idea to try to come up with a home-made recipe. It turns out that peanut butter and olive juice casserole isn't a very big hit among people who don't have pregnancy cravings.

"The entrance won't be likely to be in the same place that we found it last time, so we can cross that off of our list. We should probably search the area around where the kids first started having nightmares." Tooth said, and the others either nodded, or hummed in agreement. I moved back onto the couch as they talked about splitting up and looking for the entrance. Jack but his arm around my shoulder and gave it a little squeeze. I subconsciously leaned against him and put my head on his shoulder.

Tooth marked off the spot where they had found the entrance the last time they had tracked down Pitch. She then started putting dots all over the map with numbers next to them. The dots signified all of the places that were suggested they looked for the entrance to the lair. The numbers signified the order in which they should look. Burgess had a little number one next to it, and I couldn't help but admire how neat Tooth's handwriting was. It was extremely neat, and it had a somewhat distinct look to it. I wish I could write like that, but I write cursive better than anything else.

"We will start looking tomorrow, yes? We all need sleep." North said, looking around the room. I watched as the guardian's all voiced their agreements. And so it was decided that they would all meet up here as soon as the sun started to breech the sky. That meant that they had about eight hours to sleep before they had to wake up to go find the entrance to Pitch's lair. The guardians only talked for a few more minutes, before they all started to say there goodbyes to one-another. I said goodbye to North, Bunny, Sandy, and Tooth. Tooth apologized for making me stay behind, but I told her that it was fine, and that I understood. Even though I wanted to go, I didn't want her to feel bad about it. It wasn't her fault that I was pregnant, after all.

After everybody had left, I stood and started to put away the dishes I had been using. The Pizza rolls were completely gone, thanks to the elves and Baby Tooth. There's only about an inch of coffee in the bottom of the mug I was using, and I would drink it if it hadn't gone cold. I walk into the kitchen and place the plate into the sink. I rinsed out the coffee cup before putting it into the sink next to the plate. After I'm done, I look through the window and up at the moon. I almost forgot that I planned on talking to the Man in the Moon. I turned around to go outside, and nearly jumped out of my skin. Jack was standing right behind me. I didn't even here him come into the kitchen. He laughed under his breath at my jumpiness.

"Don't laugh at me." I said, humor filling my words. He gave me a smile, and wrapped me in his welcoming arms. I put my arms around his waist and rested my head on his chest. He kissed the top of my head, before resting his head on top of of the things I loved about Jack is that just being near him made you feel like life was going to be okay. He could always make you smile, even if you didn't want to. I guess that was one of the gifts that makes him a guardian.

"I'm sorry that you can't come with us, but I need to make sure that you're safe. No matter what happens to the rest of us, I _need_ you and the baby to be safe." He said, and I couldn't help but feel a twinge of pain at the words. I feel bad because he sounded so... guilty, like it was his fault I couldn't go. I put on the best smile I could muster, and pulled away from him.

"Don't worry, I understand why I can't go. I promise you that nothing will happen to me or the baby. I would never let anything happen to our baby. Now, you need to go to bed. You're going to need all of the rest that you can get for tomorrow." I said, hoping that I comforted him a little at least. I searched his eyes, and I found an ocean of emotions. There's love, trust, and something else that I couldn't quite put my finger on. I would stare into his eyes all night if I could. We stood there for an eternity, before he kissed my forehead and fully pulled out of my arms. He started to walk towards the bedroom, but turned around when I didn't follow him.

"Are you coming to bed with me?" He asked, and I shook my head.

"I'll be there in just a little while, I just have to do something first." I said, and Jack stood there for a moment. I could tell by his body langue that he was debating if he should stay up with me or not. He must have decided that the later would be the best plan for now, because he nodded and head down the hall. I wait until I hear the soft 'click' of the door, before I head towards the back door. I step out into the cool summer night and look up at the sky. I sit down and look straight at the moon.

"I know you can hear me, and I also know that you don't like to answer a lot of questions. But it's important this time. I'm sure you know what's happening with the kids, and I think you know who's doing it. If you could just tell me who, or at least tell me where to find them, then you would be doing me a huge favor." I say to the moon. I wait in anticipation for the answer, but after a few moments of no answer, I try again.

"Look, I really need your help. Anything could be useful at this point. I would even take hints, just please don't ignore me. I don't want to see this blow up like it did the last time. I don't want anybody getting hurt." I say and I wait again for the answer. For a few minutes, I think that he's not going to answer me, but then the wind starts to pick up. I can feel it gently brushing against my skin, and a low humming feels my ears. A beam of moonlight shines directly on me, and I hear the familiar whispering voice of the Man in the Moon.

"There will be a new face appearing soon. The one the guardian's seek will not be easily found, or baited out. You, however, can find them with the a little concentration. But be warned, what you seek, may not be what you truly want to find." After that, the humming slowly faded out and the wind stopped blowing. I stood there, waiting to see if he was going to try and speak to me again, but when no more came, I decided that I should chew on the words he had given me tomorrow. I would be more rested, and I could think them over better than I could right now. I gave a small nod to the moon before heading back inside to go to bed.

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**A/N And I leave it there because it's 1:30 in the morning, and I need sleep. But I hope you enjoyed this chapter. It was a little longer than normal, and by that, I mean it's about and inch longer than normal. :D Haha. Anyway, goodnight you guys. See ya soon, and as always, stay awesome!**


	6. I need to be where you are

**A/N Hey guys. Here is the long awaited chapter. Sorry that it took so long. I'm in the middle of moving, and a bunch of other stuff. I have been trying, but I can only squeeze a few words in here and there. I stayed up late just to get this chapter out. I hope that you guys enjoy it, and hopefully it's not all that bad. ^^ Onto the story!**

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~Jack's POV~

I open my eyes, and blink the sleepiness out of them. The room is barley lit up, the sun just barley starting to rise. I glance around the room, my eyes still groggy. There's a cold chill to the room, and part of the walls are covered in a thin layer of frost. It doesn't really surprise me. It's not the first time that I woke up surrounded by frost that I created while asleep. Thank god that the frost wasn't all over the place though. Rose would kill me if I got frost on the bed, or on her books again.

I look over to Rose's side of the bed, and see her sleeping there. She's turned onto her side, her hair beautifully messed up. After almost a year, I still can't believe that she's stuck with me all this time. We've been through a lot together, and she means the world to me.. No.. She is my world. I honestly cannot explain how much she means to me. Not to mention that she's giving me one of the best gifts in the world. A child. A child that will be a combination of nightmares and ice. I chuckle softly to myself as I remember that Pitch said that it was a perfect combination almost two years ago. I'm sure this isn't what he meant when he said that.

I smile down at her, before looking at the clock on the night stand next to the side of the bed. It's 5:48 in the morning. We all agreed to meet here at 6:30 in the morning so that we could get on with the search for Pitch's lair. We thought that we would start by looking in the fields and small patches of trees on the outskirts of town. The other's said that Pitch usually picked those kinds of area's to put the entrance to his lair. They said something about him not wanting people to go near it, so he usually placed it in a part of the forest where humans didn't usually go. I thought about a hunter or fishermen finding the whole and deciding to go into it. They would sure be in for a surprise.

I push myself into a sitting position, before swinging my feet over the edge of the bed. My feet hit the floor, and I stand up. I quietly make my way to the windowsill, where my staff and jacket lay. I pick up the jacket, and pull it over my head. I'm thankful to have the familiar weight of it back on my shoulders. I then grab my staff, and make my way to Rose's side of the bed. I softly kiss Rose's head, to wish her happy dreams. She moves a little, but, thankfully, she doesn't wake up. I look around the room again, hoping that the layers of frost melts before Rose wakes up. I make my way out of the room, and close the door softly behind me.

As I walk down the hallway, I smell the scent of coffee. Rose's dad must be up, I think as I get closer to the kitchen. When I finally get there, I find her dad pouring a cup of coffee, and whistling a merry tune. When I first started staying the night here, Rose had told me that he was a morning person. After a few mornings with him, I realized how true that statement was. I lean my staff against the table, and he looks over to me. He smiles brightly at me, and I give him a smile back.

"Morning Jack. Would you like a cup of coffee?" He asks, as he mixes the sugar into his cup.

"Good morning, and I wouldn't mind one." I say, and he nods and grabs another cup. He pours the coffee, and then mixes in the milk and sugar. He walks to the table, and hands one cup to me. I take it gratefully, and sit down. He sits down in the chair next to mine, and sips from his coffee cup. I take a sip as well, the hot liquid heating my throat. I feel the heat spread through my body, and leaving a tingling sensation once it fades. I have to hand it to this man, he really knows how to make a cup of coffee.

"Hey, I want to thank you again for your help yesterday. It wouldn't have gone nearly as smooth if you hadn't been there." I say, as I thought back to yesterday morning, when he helped me run a few errands.

"It's no problem, Jack. It's not like you, alone, could have talked to all those people to get the information that you wanted.. Well, it would have been difficult, since they wouldn't have been able to see you anyway. " He says, and laughs under his breath. A small chuckle falls from my chest, and I take another sip of coffee. I'm grateful that we are able to be this close, instead of the awkward intense moments. You know, those ones where the father is protective of the daughter, and the boyfriend is intimidated by it. But not so intimidated as to be driven away.

"So, when are you planning to bring all of this up to Rose?" He asks, before drinking more coffee. He gives me a look over the rim of his cup, and I know exactly what he's talking about.

"I'm not sure. I have to figure out how to put the words into order first.. Well, in an order that will make sense to other people anyway." I say, before taking my bottom lip in between my teeth and chewing on it. He stands up, and puts a hand on my shoulder.

"Don't worry. When the time is right, you'll know what to say." He says, before letting his hand fall from my shoulder. He goes to the coffee pot and pours another cup. I'm thankful for the advice that he just gave me. I have a rough draft of what I want to say, but I haven't found the right words yet. So, him saying that when the time is right I'll find the words, is comforting to me.

He sits back down, and we exchange words about this and that as we each sip coffee. The small talk fills the air, and it's enjoyable. After a while, though, there's a knock at the front door. I jump up, and walk over to answer the door. I'm greeted with North's big, muscular frame. I move to the side and motion for him to come in. It only took minutes for the other guardians to start showing up.

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~Rose's POV~

I slowly come into awareness of my surroundings, and my eyes slowly blink open. I glance around the room, and I can feel a chill biting at my face. _He must have frosted in his sleep again,_ I think to myself. I just sigh it off. I'm used to it by now. I stretch out my legs, before turning to see if Jack is still in the bed next to me. I'm not really surprised that he's left already. He said that they were going to be gathering early this morning. I roll back over, and look at the alarm clock next to me. It says that it's 6:58 in the morning. I wonder to myself if the guardians have left yet. There's only one way to find out.

I push my self into a sitting position, and the push back the blankets. My body complains as the warm, and comfortable, feeling of the blanket leaves. I ignore it as best I can, and swing my legs over the edge of the bed, and shove my feet into my blue fuzzy slippers. I then stand, and walk over to the closet to grab a robe. I put it on, and I'm thankful to have some warmth back. I walk out of the room, and down the hall, towards the kitchen.

As I get closer, I listen for voices, but I hear nothing. Well, nothing besides the morning news. This indicates that my dad is still here at least. I walk into the living room, and find my dad sitting on the couch, watching tv. I smile at him, and walk over to the sofa. I sit down next to him, and lean my head onto his shoulder. He wraps his arm around my shoulders, and gives me a squeeze. I sigh contently and look up at him.

"Morning pa." I tell him.

"Morning sweetheart." He says back to me, and kisses my forehead. He chuckles before he looks back to the TV. I sit in silence and watch it with him for a few minutes, but then I can't retain my curiousness. I lean forward and grab the remote off of the coffee table. I turn down the Tv a little bit, and my dad gives me a quizzical look. It fades and is replaced with a realization within seconds though.

"You wanna know how long ago they left, huh?" He asks, and I nod at him. This causes him to chuckle, as he situates himself on the couch better. He then continues by saying. "They left about fifteen minutes ago. And I think I already know what your next question, so I'm just going to answer it now. They went to go search the small patch of woods to the south of town." He says.

I think that over for a second, my mind still a little fuzzy from just waking up. After a few minutes, my mind recalls the patch of woods that dad is talking about. He used to take me camping and fishing up there all the time. It's a beautiful spot, and I know the area like the back of my hand. I can't say why, but once I realized where it is, I got a weird feeling in my gut. I have a feeling that they aren't going to find the entrance there. Or, at least, not in the places that they are probably going to look. I don't know how I could ever be sure that this feeling is accurate, but the more I think about it, the stronger the feeling gets.

After my powers first awoke, I would get feelings and urges much like this one. A lot of the time, the feeling was right. It's because of this that I was starting to trust these feelings more and more. I've never felt it this strong before though. It's as if something was calling me and telling me to go find them. I don't know where any of this is coming from, but it's radiation through all of me at this point, crashing over me in waves.

I do my best to smile at my dad as I stand. He looks at me, and I can see a twinge of worry in his eyes, but he doesn't say anything. I make my way back to my room as quick as I can. After I get there, I shut the door and get dressed. I pull on some jeans, and I pull a grey tank-top over my head. I slip on some a pair of flip flops as I pull a zip-up hoodie on. I grab my phone off of the charger, and then I move back to the door. I open and close it as quietly as I can. I don't want my dad to know that I'm leaving, but I need a darker place so that I can use the shadows to move around. The back of the house should still be pretty dark, or at least have a few shadows that I can use.

I tip toe through the house, trying not to alert my father to my presence._ He'll probably think that it's morning sickness or something_, I keep telling my self over and over again. I peek around the corner that leads to the living room, and I see no sign of my dad. I figure that he's probably in the bathroom or something. I feel bad for trying to sneak around him, but I know that if I don't, he will stop me from going. I move quickly to the back door, making sure to check all of the corners so that he can't surprise me. I make it outside, and I waddle to the the right side of the house. It's a cement patio, that has an awning. I turn the corner and freeze in my tracks. Sitting in one of the patio chairs, is my dad.

"Rose..." He says. I look down at the ground, preparing myself for the lecture that I know is coming. "You honestly think I don't know you enough to know when you're trying to sneak out of the house? And that I wouldn't know where you would go to find some usable shadows? I only have one thing to say to you.." He says, and then I hear a jingle. I look up at him, and see something reflecting light in hand. I then realize that it's the car keys. "If you needed a ride, why didn't you just ask?"

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**A/N Aaaaaand I leave it there, because it's three in the morning and I need sleep. Night guys! Until next time, Stay awesome!**


	7. A stranger in the woods

**A/N Hey guys! I want start off by saying that I apologize for taking so long in between updates. I have a lot going on right now, with packing for the move, and getting ready to move. Also, it's because I've been trying to find the inspiration to write again. It's not really an excuse, but theres one of the biggest reasons. I'm really trying to find it again, so be patient with me please! Also, there should be a new OC poping up in this chapter. So that should be fun, huh? Anyway, let's get to the story**

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~Rose's POV~

I buckle up my seat belt as my dad starts the car. He then pulls out of the drive way, and we start our short journey to the small patch of woods on the outskirts of town. It will take about twenty minutes to get there by car. I'm trying really hard to push back the feeling that I'm getting. It came on so suddenly, and it was way stronger than all of the other urges I've ever gotten. Usually, it's like an unpleasant feeling that settles in the pit of my stomach.. But this was like every part of my body was screaming to find them. I don't know why, but I know that I had to follow this feeling or something terrible would happen. I had one question though. Why did my dad offer to drive me? He agreed with the guardians that it was to dangerous for me to help while I was pregnant.

"Dad, why did you offer to drive me? I thought you didn't want me getting involved with all of this, because it's to dangerous.." I said, trailing off because I didn't know what else to say. There really wasn't anything else _to_ say. I heard him sigh as he turned around a corner. He kept his eyes on the road, only glancing over at me occasionally.

"I offered to drive you because, I didn't want to you to use your powers. I know that look that you got on your face. It's the look you get when your determined to get and/or do something. I remember when you were younger, I took you to the park, and there was this really tall tree. I told you not to climb it because you could fall and get hurt.. Well you did it anyway. And you fell and broke your arm." I blushed as I remembered that day. I was so embarrassed, but my dad never said 'I told you so.' He didn't really have to. The look on his face said it all. He continued by saying, "You got that very same look on your face. That's why I knew that you were going to find some way to get to there weather I wanted you to or not. So, I decided that driving you there would be easier in the long run." He said, turning onto a dirt road that would take us to the woods.

I thought on his words for a moment, staying silent. The more I thought about it, the more it actually made sense. It's true that I would have found a way to get there no matter what he said to me. I'm just glad that I didn't have to use the shadows.. I usually don't mind, but I was to frazzled in that moment to fully concentrate as much as I needed too. I didn't really think about that in the heat of the moment though. I don't know what would have happened, and if it's bad, I hope to never find out.

I wonder if I'll ever get to the point where I'll be able to use these powers without that concentration. I remember how Pitch used them so easily. It was as if it all he had to do was flick his wrist, and bam! He was wherever he wanted to go. I know that I shouldn't be messing with these powers, but I feel like they are apart of me. Not so much apart of me that they control everything I do, but enough to where I want to learn how to use them. It might be stupid and naive, but it was they way I felt ever since I got back home after we defeated Pitch. I've never told anybody else this, because I don't want them to worry, and I also don't want them to try and stop me.

I turn my head to stare out the window, enjoying the silence. I watched as the building faded into fields, followed by trees. It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining brightly, even though it was early in the morning. There's only a few clouds in the sky, and the ones that are floating around are white and fluffy. The trees were really beautiful as well. I caught movement out of the corner of my eye and I turn to see my dad turn on the stereo. It's tuned into a station that plays a mix of 90's and today's music. This is the station that he always listens to whenever we're in the car.

We spend the rest of the ride in silence, which gave me the chance to drift away with my thoughts. Before I knew it, my dad was pulling into a circular, gravel parking lot. It wasn't very big, but then again not a lot of people came here. This area is infested with bears. I unbuckle my seat belt and open the car door to get out. I push myself awkwardly into a standing position. I shut the door, and dad locks the car. We both walk to the front of the car, and I scan some of the trees. I have no idea where to start looking for them.

"How will we know where to look for them? Did they tell you where they were going to start looking?" I asked, looking over at him. It didn't look at me, instead he was scanning the outline of trees. His eyes moved back and forth across the outline of trees for a few moments, but then they stopped.

"They didn't tell me where they were going to look first, but I think that might help us find them." He said, pointing towards the left of where we're standing. I follow his gaze to a patch of trees. I don't see anything unusual about it, and I shoot my dad a confused look. He just motions for me to follow him, as he steps off the gravel and into the grass. I follow him as he walks to the patch of trees he was pointing to only moments ago. As we get closer, I see something shimmer in the sunlight. I furrow my eyebrows trying to figure what it is.

It doesn't take us long to walk the rest of the way there. When we do, I examine the leaves on some of the trees. I run a hand over some of them, and I notice two important things. The first is that the area is covered in water. The second is that the leaves are cold. Well, colder than they should be. Then the light bulb went off in my head. Jack was here. The cold and frost follows him everywhere he goes, so it makes sense that the trees he passes should be covered lightly in frost. I look further into the trees and I see more of the leaves and bushes reflecting a similar light.

"Dad, if we follow this, do you think that we'll be able to find them?" I ask him.

"It's worth a shot. Are you sure you're up for this?" He asks, looking at me. I nod, and he gives me a small smile before stepping into the trees. I follow him, moving deeper into the woods. I call out to Jack a few times, but there isn't a response. The path is straight for a couple of yards, but then it turns abruptly. Dad and I turn and continue to follow it. As we continue walk, I can see the droplets of water change into a thin layer of frost. This means that we're getting closer to Jack and the others. I start moving faster, my heart rate speeding up. I start calling out for him again.

I pause after a few minutes to see if I can hear anything. I hear nothing but the rustling of leaves, and a few birds chirping. Then, out of nowhere, the wind shifts and it starts blowing towards us. It's stronger than it was a few minutes ago, but it's not over powering. The breeze soon turns cold, and then I see Jack being carried by the wind. The wind lets him down a few feet in front of us, and I open my mouth to say something, but the look on his face stops me. I've never seen him look so angry before.

"I thought we said that it was to dangerous for you to be out here Rose." He said, and though his voice was quite it couldn't quite hide the anger in his voice.

"I know what you said but-"

"No. What would you have done if something happened to you? What if you got hurt out here, huh?" He said cutting me off. I feel my own anger rising. I know that he's making a valid point, but I couldn't just sit there and ignore the feeling I got.

"I would have figured something out if that happened, I always do! I wouldn't have come out here unless I had a good reason, and you know it." I say to him, and he moves closer to me.

"I don't care what the reason is Rose, it's not just yourself you have to think about anymore. You're pregnant now, and I don't want anything to happen to you or the baby. None of us do. You need to leave. Now." He says, and his eyes are sparking with his anger. I would usually be intimidated by this, but right now I'm not in the mood to back down. I came here for a reason, and I'll see to it that I help.

"No. I'm not leaving until I get the chance to help you." I say, straightening my back, and looking him straight in the eyes. He takes another step towards me, and by now we're about a foot away from each other.

"Now Rose." He says again, and I shake my head.

"No. I'm staying weather you like it or not. I'll be fine, the baby will be fine, and everything will work out." I say back at him. He runs a hand through his hair and shakes his head.

"Why do you have to do this? Why is it so important that you stay here? How can you help us with the condition that you're in?" He asks, and it makes me even more angry. In my condition? What is that supposed to mean? The wind starts picking up around us, and I feel the temperature dropping. A few flakes of snow are swirling around us, and soon I see thin streams of black dust.

"My condition!? What is that supposed to mean? What is it about pregnancy that make men think that suddenly women are fragile flowers that contently need protection? You don't think that I can protect myself, do you?" I say, and the wind starts moving even faster around us, whipping my hair to the side.

"You know that's not what I meant." He bites back at me. We stand there staring at each other, but then he breaks the silence by sighing. He rubs his temple and looks down at the ground, the wind dying down a little. "Just tell me what you're doing out here." I stay silent for a moment, biting my bottom lip. I feel my anger die down a little, but I can still feel it there.

"I came out here because I got a feeling that I needed to be here. It's like something was calling me here. I had to come." I said, and the wind slows to a calm breeze. There isn't anymore sand or snow, but the temperature is still lower than normal. Jack opens his mouth to say something, but he's interrupted by another voice erupting form the trees.

"Jack we found something!" Tooth says, bursting through the trees. A few fairy's are following closely behind her. She notices me, and gives me a strange look. I just roll my eyes, and shake my head. Jack shoots me a look, then follows Tooth through the trees. I look back at my dad and then follow as well. I already came all the way here, I wasn't go to pack it in now.

We walk for only a couple of yards, and then enter a small clearing. The other guardians are all gathered in a circle, and I go to join them. Instead of standing by Jack, I stand by Bunny. He also gives me a weird look, but I ignore it. I look down at the ground, because that's were everybody else was looking. I have to hold back the gasp as my eyes settle on a girl. She's curled up on the ground. Her clothes are tattered, and she's shivering like a leaf caught in a windstorm. Her arms are covering her face, so I can't see what she looks like. I react on instincts and I kneel down. Or the best I can anyway. I put a hand on her shoulder, and she shrinks in on herself even more.

"Hey, it's okay. I'm not going to hurt you." I say, and she uncurls a little bit. Her arms move enough to let me see her face. Her eyes are full of fear, and she has a few scratches here and there. She looks at me, and I do my best to smile at her.

"That's it. Don't worry. You're safe now, I won't let anything happen to you." I say, and she shifts her gaze to the guardians. She then turns her eyes back to me. I keep talking to her softly, trying to get her to calm down. After a moment, she shifts, and pushes herself into a sitting position. I give her a smile.

"My name is Rose. What's your's?" I ask her, rubbing her shoulder softly.

"M-my name is Jade." She says softly.

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**A/N Aaaaaand I leave it there. Tell me what you guys think about Jack and Rose's fight. I had to keep rewriting that part because I didn't want them to be too harsh with each other. Yea... I don't think those two are going to be very happy with each other for a little while... Anyway, Until next time. Stay awesome you guys!**


	8. The new face, and an apology

**A/N Hey guys, I'm back again. Okay, so this chapter is going to Pick up exactly where the last one let off. So, I put in a few paragraphs from the last chapter in here just to be safe. I put them in italics, so that you could skip over them if you wish. Also, this chapter is a little bit longer than normal. I did it for you guys, because after all, you are the reason that this story exists. Anyway, that's about it right now, so enjoy the newest chapter you guys!**

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-Previously:

_"Hey, it's okay. I'm not going to hurt you." I say, and she uncurls a little bit. Her arms move enough to let me see her face. Her eyes are full of fear, and she has a few scratches here and there. She looks at me, and I do my best to smile at her._

_"That's it. Don't worry. You're safe now, I won't let anything happen to you." I say, and she shifts her gaze to the guardians. She then turns her eyes back to me. I keep talking to her softly, trying to get her to calm down. After a moment, she shifts, and pushes herself into a sitting position. I give her a smile._

_"My name is Rose. What's your's?" I ask her, rubbing her shoulder softly._

_"M-my name is Jade." She says softly._

-Present:

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~Rose's POV~

"Jade, how did you get here?" I ask her, and she looks at me. Our eyes meet, and her eyes are kind of like mine, just a deeper blue. Her eyes have waves of shimmering royal blue. To put it simply, her eyes are some of the most beautiful I've ever seen. She's sitting criss-cross now, and I'm sitting in front of her. The other's are somewhere behind me, but I'm not paying to much attention to there where about right now. I'm focused on Jade, and how she came to be here.

"I don't remember.." She said, look down at the ground for a few seconds and then back up to me. I nod at here, letting her know that it's okay. She must have been through something terrible.

"How old are you?" I ask.

"I don't know how long I was in that.. place. What month is it?" She asks me. Her voice is light, and it sounds like a lone violin. Beautiful, but sad at the same time.

"It's near the end of August." I reply simple. I see the understanding in her eyes.

"Oh. Then that would make me 16 years old." She says, and I'm taken aback. She looked older than sixteen. Seventeen maybe, but that's beside the point. What does she mean by 'that place'?

"What place? Can you describe it to me?" I ask her. She nods wearily back at me. She then takes a deep breath, as if she was preparing herself for a long story.

"It was dark most of the time I was there. I think I must have blacked in and out and that's why I can't remember a whole lot about it. I remember hearing a voice, like the walls were speaking to me, but it was more terrifying than anything I've ever heard. The voice was so dark, like that of a demon. It kept going on and on about prophecy and destiny. All I can remember about the place it's self is that it was almost always dark. I was in a room, and there was only a bed and a single chair. There wasn't even any blankets.." She says, trailing off and looking down at the ground. I know of only one person who has a voice that sounds like that, but I have to make sure.

"Did you ever see the person to whom the voice belonged?" I ask her. She doesn't respond right away, but then she gives me a microscopic nod. If I wasn't paying close attention, I would have missed it. "Tell me Jade." I say to her.

"I only caught a small glimpse of him once, but it was enough. It's like I can't forget it now, because it's permanently burned into my brain. The thing that really stuck out was his eyes. They were a hazel color, but they were so intense. Those eyes were staring at me, as if they were searching my soul. It felt like they were searching for something.. You probably think I'm crazy, huh?" She asks. Her question made me give a dry laugh. I've seen plenty of crazy in the past year.

"No. I don't think that you're crazy." She looks up at me again, and meets my eyes. I see shock and surprise drifting around in those blue orbs of hers.

"Really? But.. why?" She asks, her voice also betraying how surprised she is. I give her a small half smile.

"I believe you because I've been through some pretty crazy stuff myself." I say, and her face stays with a surprised expression for only a few seconds. Then it melts into a expression of understanding. I open my mouth to say something else, but Tooth's voice sounds behind me. I look over my shoulder to look at her.

"I think that that's enough questions for now. I bet your hungry, right?" She asks, tilting her head. She has a friendly look on her face, but I wonder if Jade can even see her. If she's also 16 than then the chances of her believing in the guardians are low.. But then again, she described Pitch only a few moments ago. It could have been because she thought it was a horrible nightmare, or the fact that she still believed.

"I wouldn't argue with food." Jade replies, her voice filled with acknowledgment and humor. I look back to Jade and smile.

"Why don't you come to my house, and we'll get you some food. We will figure out what to do next, later." I tell her and she returns my smile. There's something different about our smiles though. Hers is small and hesitant. It has happiness, but it makes me think that she doesn't have reason to smile very often. I guess that I just got used to smiling and laughing so much that it's pretty much second nature now. I'm pretty sure that a smile is my most used expression. Well that and crying, because pregnancy hormones suck.

Jade stands up, her legs wobbling a little bit. I also go to stand up, but I start to struggle with it. I didn't think how hard it would be to get out of this position when I first got into it. After only a few seconds, I feel a hand grip me under my right arm. It helps me to my feet, and I turn to see who the hand belonged to. I see Jacks face. He's not looking at me, but instead at a tree I think. He must still be mad at me. I say a small 'thanks' and then motion for Jade to start following me back to the car.

I hope that my dad doesn't mind that I'm bringing home a stranger. I mean, it's not the first time I brought some random person home, but I think this might be a little different. I make a mental note to talk about it with him later on. I hear foot steps beside, and behind me. I don't look, though, knowing that Jack will be there. I know that I'm being childish about this whole thing, and that he's probably right, but my anger is getting to me. I don't like it when we fight, but usually our fights are over within ten minutes. I hope this one doesn't last more than a day or two...

* * *

-Time skip: After they get home.-

~Rose's POV~

I lean my back against the kitchen counter, as I watch my dad make a fresh pot of coffee. The scent of coffee grounds washes over me, and I breath it in deeply. I love that smell. He pours the water into the back of the pot, closes the lid, and presses start. The old coffee pot groans as if it's being woken up after a thousand years. My dad wipes down the counter in front of the coffee pot before tossing the rag into the sink.

"Dad, I'm sorry that I didn't ask before bringing her here." I say to him, and looks over at me.

"It's fine Rose. I knew that you were probably going to do something like this. You always have to help people, because I raised you that way. And to see you helping others makes me proud. She can stay the night if she needs to, but we need to find out if she has a home of her own to go back to." He says, and it makes sense. I don't know why I didn't ask her if she needed to go home, or at least check in with somebody. I give my dad a nod, and a smile.

"I'll ask her about it later on tonight, I promise. And thanks again." I say, and this time he smiles at me. He walks closer and puts his arms over my shoulders. I wrap my arms around his middle, and hold onto him tightly. My head is resting sideways on his chest, and his head rests on top of mine. I feel him give me a kiss on the top of my head.

"Honey, I think you should talk to Jack as well." He says, and I pull back enough to look at him.

"What?" I asked, a little taken aback.

"You should go talk to him about your fight earlier. You'll have to do it eventually, so why not do it now? You have a little time since Jade is in the shower." He says, and I know that he's speaking with wisdom. I look down at the ground, and then back up into his eyes.

"I don't even know what to say to him right now, dad." I tell him honestly.

"Tell him the truth. You two need to understand each other now, otherwise you'll have trouble later on down the road." He says, and I bite my lip. I know he's right. No matter how much I didn't want to, I needed to talk to Jack. If not for me, than for the others and the baby. We are all like a team, and if on part of the team starts arguing with the other.. The team doesn't work anymore. People choose sides, and soon, everyone is distant with the others. I don't want that to happen with Jack and me.

"Where is he?" I ask my dad, and he gives me a smile. It's probably because he knew his words had struck home.

"I believe he is lingering in the living room with the other guardians." He says, and I give him a quick kiss on the cheek. He kisses my forehead before releasing me from the hug. I turn and take a deep breath. I can feel my heart start racing, as I walk towards the living room. Once I walk in, everybody looks at me. I feel a little awkward, but I try my best to hide it.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" I ask, looking at Jack. He opens his mouth to say something. Probably to say that he can't because him and the others are planning their next move, but Bunny talks before he has the chance.

"Go ahead, we'll catch you up once you get back." He says, and Jack gives him a look, but doesn't argue. Jack walks past me, and heads towards the bedroom. I smile at the guardians, and turn around to follow him. Once we get to the bedroom, I close the door behind me. Jack sits on the windowsill, and I sit on the edge of the bed. He looks at me for a moment, before speaking.

"This is about what happened earlier, isn't it?" He asked, sighing.

"Yes. I want to work it out, not wait until it get's worse." I say, and I glance down at the ground.

"Rose, I didn't mean to get so angry with you. It's just that I want to make sure that you're safe." He says, and I look back up at him.

"I know, but I can protect myself.. But I may have acted a little irrational.." I say, trying to expose myself fully. My dad said that we need to understand each other, and I think the best way to do that is to be honest with one another. He gives a small laugh, and I give him a confused expression.

"A little? Rose, you strolled into the woods with out even knowing where any of us were. You could have gotten lost, and then where would we be?" He said, looking over at me.

"Hey now, I know those woods like the back of my hand.," I say, holding a finger up at him. I shake it a few times for emphasis, and then return my hand to it's original position and then continue, "And besides, I had my phone with me. I could have called somebody for help if I really needed to." I finish.

"What would have happened if someone captured you. Like Pitch. It happened once, and it could happen again." He said. That was a valid point, actually. Not one I really though about before. But if I got away from him once, I'm pretty confident that I could do it again. I mean, I think I could. I hope that I never had to actually face that though.

"Look, I'll admit that I may not have thought through my actions all the way. But I felt like something was telling me to go there. Like, it was pulling me there. I couldn't just ignore it." I told him. He runs a hand through his hair, and sighs.

"I get it. I just got so mad that you came out there because I was afraid that you were going to get hurt. I'm supposed to protect you, and I feel like I can't do that if you don't listen to me when I tell you it isn't safe." He said, and I look in his eyes. I felt a twinge of guilt in my heart. I know that he wants the baby and me to be safe, and that I wasn't exactly helping.

"Jack, I'm sorry. I know that you try your best to look out for me, and you do a really good job at it.. But there are going to be times when even you can't keep me safe. I need you to trust me when I say that it's going to be okay."

"I know.. But sometimes, I feel like you don't even need me anymore." He says, looking out the window. The words take only seconds to sink in. I feel like something got jammed into my heart, and I feel tears well up in my eyes. I can't imagine how bad that must make him feel. I didn't realize that I was making him feel like he wasn't needed anymore, and that would never be my intention. I stand and move closer to him. I put a hand on his shoulder, and he looks up at me.

"I don't always need you in front of me, Jack. I need you to be beside me too. I want us do protect each other. And together, I want us to protect this baby.I want us to be a team." I say to him. His eyes slowly start to swirl with understanding.

"I think that that's a good idea, but you should know that I was on my own for three hundred years, before I became a guardian. So I'm still trying to get used to the whole teamwork thing." He says, and I smile at him.

"I think you doing a great job so far. And besides, it's not like this is a class project and we're all going to fail if we don't figure out how to work together right away." I say, and this makes him smile a little.

"I love you, you know that?" He asks. I smile, and nod.

"Yea, I know. I love you too." I say. He smiles and stands up to wrap his arms around my middle. I blush a little, because my baby bump puts some noticeable distance between us. I decide not to say anything about it, because I don't want to ruin the moment. Who knows when we'll get to have another one, since Pitch decided to show his face again. I wrap my arms around his shoulders. He leans forward and presses a kiss to my lips, which I return happily. I wouldn't say that our relationship is overly affectionate, but there's just the right amount of affection. I break the kiss, and then rest my head on his shoulder.

"You should probably be getting back soon.. But I don't want to let you go." I tell him with a sigh. He chuckles, and I smile to myself. His arms tighten around me, and I feel him kiss the top of my head.

"I don't want to let go either. Honestly, I could stay like this for an eternity.. Why don't you come out with me? We can sit together." He says. I look up at him with a smile.

"That sounds really tempting, but I don't want to distract you guys. I should probably check on Jade anyway." I say, shrugging a little bit. He nods, and we reluctantly let go. He quickly kisses me again, before he walks out of the room. Our eyes meet for a brief second as he opens the door, and leaves. I look down at the ground, and smile a little. I take a deep breath, and walk out of the room. Now, to find Jade. I just hope that she's still not in the shower.

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**A/N Well, that's it for now guys. It was more of a filler chapter, but I promise there is going to be some juicy drama in the next chapter. Which I shall have up within at least a week. Anyway, pleas leave a review, and until next time. Stay awesome! ^.^**


	9. Daughters

**A/N Heeeey. Told you guys that I would have the newest chapter up within a week. ;D But anyway, I know that the past few chapters haven't been very exciting, but trust me, things will start heating up in this chapter. So just hang in there with me, kay? Onto the story! XD**

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~Rose's POV~

After searching most of the house, I have yet to find Jade. Granted, it doesn't take very long for a person to search a house, but when you're 8 months pregnant, you don't move around very fast. She isn't in any of the bedrooms, and the bathroom is open, so I know that she's not in there anymore. I decide to check the living room and Kitchen. I walk into the living room, and I just see the guardians. They give me a glance before they continue on with their discussion. Not much out of the ordinary there.

I turn around, and go towards the Kitchen. Once I get there, and I see Jade and my dad. He's rummaging through the fridge, and Jade is sitting at the table fidgeting with the hem of the grey tank-top she has on. In front of her is a plate of spaghetti that I helped dad make a few days ago. I give her a quizzical look to see if she has any clue to what's going on. She shrugs her shoulders and gives me a confused look in return. I walk to stand beside my dad, as he's crouched with his head and arms stuck in the fridge. I cross my arms and lean against the counter.

"Dad.. What are you doing?" I ask him, and he jumps. This results in him hitting his head on the top of the fridge. He retreats from the fridge and rubs the top of his head.

"I'm looking for the Parmesan cheese that I bought a few weeks ago." He says, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. I chuckle at him and turn around. I open the cupboard door, and grab the Parmesan for the middle shelve. I turn around and hold it out to him. He stands up, and shuts the door. Then he gives me a look that makes me laugh again.

"Who put it in there?" He says, with a disbelieving tone.

"I did, because that's were we usually put it." I tell him. He gives a concentrated look as he tries to remember back to a week ago. This makes me give a breathy laugh. He's always been a bit spacey, but I love him anyway. I pat him on the shoulder, and take the cheese from him. I assume that it's for Jade, since she's the only one eating spaghetti, and one usually puts Parmesan on spaghetti.

I walk over to the table, making sure to grab a granola bar from the box on the counter. I sit in the chair next to Jade, and hand her the cheese. She takes it from me, and scatters some of the spaghetti. I open the granola bar, and nibble on the corner of it. Jade eats a forkful of spaghetti, and I decide to wait until she's eaten a little more before I talk to her. Who knows how long it's been since she's eaten. After most of the plate is consumed, along with about three granola bars, Jade pushes the plate a little further away from her. I cross my arms and put them on the table.

"I was wondering if you wanted to go for a walk with me? I want to talk about a few things, and I think we could both use some fresh air." I say, and she nods at me.

"Sounds good. Where are we walking to?" She ask, as we both stand up. I think about if for a moment.

"There's a park nearby, if you want to go there." I say, and she gives me a smile. I take that as an agreement. I walk over, and kiss my dad on the cheek, telling him that we should be back within an hour. He tells me to make sure I have my phone and then wishes me luck. We walk into the hallway leading to the front door. I pause before stepping outside, and I walk into the living room. I kiss Jack goodbye, and tell him the same thing I told my dad. He tells us to be careful, and gives me a pointed glance. I smile at him, before rejoining Jade at the door. We walk outside into the sunlight, and then start down to the driveway. After only a few minutes, Jade breaks the silence that's been lingering over the air.

"You two make a really cute couple. Plus you guys look really happy together." She say, and gives me a smile.

"Thank you." I tell her, a blush rising to my cheeks. Usually the only person who said Jack and my relationship was cute, is Tooth. So, it's kind of nice to hear somebody else say it.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" She asks, and I have to think for a moment about what to ask first. After a few seconds, I decide that I should start by asking how long she was with Pitch.

"Now that you know what month it is, do you know how long you were there?" I ask, and she looks down at the ground. I can tell she's thinking, by the look on her face. She bites her lip, and furrows her eyebrows.

"I think it was only a few weeks, maybe a month and a half." She says, and I can't believe she survived. I remember how horrible my small amount of time there was. I was only there a few days, and I had a hard time getting over the aftershock of being in that place.

"I'm sorry." I tell her, and she gives me a half smile as if to say that it's okay. I can see that she's mostly faking it, but I don't want to press her into telling me how she feels about what she must of gone through. I know that I wouldn't want to talk about something like that with a girl I just met a few hours ago. I decide to move onto the next question that I had in mind.

"You said that her heard a voice coming from the walls around you.. Did you ever respond to it?" I ask, as we cross the street. Thank god that the roads weren't very busy, otherwise we could have been stuck at the crosswalk for awhile. The park was just down the street a little further.

"I think I may have told him to let me go, but I don't remember saying anything other than that.." She responds.

"What else did he say to you? You know, besides the whole destiny thing." I ask her, and I'm not really sure why. I think most of it could be blamed on curiosity. She takes a deep breath, and adopts another look that tells me she's thinking back upon her time spent there. I wait in silence as we walk. I see the park up ahead, and see a few children playing. After a moment of watching the children, I look back to Jade. She takes another deep breath, and looks like she's steadying herself.

"I'm not really sure if I was just hearing things, or if this is even true.. But I remember him saying something that really stuck out. It's actually been really bothering me for awhile.. I wanted to tell one of you, but you guys just seemed so busy." She says, and I give her an apology smile.

"I'm sorry. Things are a little hectic right now." I tell her.

"No, it's okay, I get it.. You guys must be busy most of the time. I mean, they all do so much, you know? And you with your pregnancy.. That must be really time consuming." She says, as we enter the park.

"It can be, but we always want to help when we can.. And even I will almost always have time to talk. That's about the only thing I'm good at right now." I say, laughing. She gives me a small chuckle. We walk along a path that leads around the park, and connects back to where we are now. A light breeze blows towards us as I continue, "But anyway, what was it that he said?"

"It was the only time I ever saw him.. I must have been passed out, because it felt like a dream. Anyway, he stepped out of the shadows, and he had this smile on his face. He came close to me, and I tried to move, but something was holding me still. He said that he had a special gift for me. He said that I was going to learn how to control the shadows as he did. I wondered how that was possible, and I think that he could read my thoughts, because he answered. He told me that it was quite possible, because I was one of two daughters.. His daughters." She finishes, and I'm completely taken aback, and shocked.

I can't believe what I just heard. Daughters? Is that even possible? Or should I say, how is that even possible? How would this have gone unnoticed.. And why wouldn't my dad say anything about it? He knew about who I was, where I came from. Surely he would know if I had a sister. I feel like I've been lied to my entire life.. Again. I feel a pain that radiates from my lower back, to the front of my stomach. I run a hand over my belly, and try to focus on the situation that's occurring right now.

"Are you positive that that is what he said?"I asked, more than a little breathless at this point. I know that it's not likely that she would lie about this. I don't know who would lie about being the spawn of the nightmare king.. I would probably lie and say that I wasn't, to be honest.

"I'm sure.. I'll never forget those words.." She said looking at the ground. I put a hand on her shoulder, to tell her it's okay, and reach for my cell phone. I need to call dad, and tell him that we're coming home. I dial his number, and put the phone up to my ear. Jade gives me a quizzical look, and I mouth who I'm calling. It rings a few times, and as it does, I feel another cramp like pain. No, it's worse than a cramp. I run a hand over my lower back, and bite my lip. He picks up the phone after what feels like forever.

"Hey, everything okay?" He asks.

"Things could be better at this point.. We're on our way home." I say, and another wave crashes over me. This time I have to let out a little groan of pain. What's going on? It can't be what I think it is, could it? I wonder to myself as he talks to me again.

"Rose, what's wrong?" He asks, probably worried by the sound I just made.

"I-I don't know. I think the baby's coming." I tell him.

"I'm on my way, just hang tight, okay?" He says, and I nod, though I know that he can't see me. I hang up the phone and put it back into my pocket. I bend over as yet another wave of pain washes over me. I feel a hand on my shoulder, and I look up to see Jade. I take a few deep breathes, and I feel my palms start to get sweaty.

"Why don't we sit down while we wait?" She says, and motions towards a bench that's only a few feet away. I nod and she holds onto my arm as I straighten out. It feels like a knife is being stab into my gut, as I walk. We finally make it there and I sit down. I close my eyes tightly, and clench my hands together. Jade sits next to me, and rubs my back gently. I'm thankful that somebody's here with me. I would probably be panicking right now if I was alone. Well more than I was at the moment.

I don't have to wait very long before my dad get's here. I crouches down in front of me, and I look at him. Then I feel a cold hand on my right shoulder and look over at Jack. I give him a faint smile, and he gives me one in return. Jack and my dad help me up, and we slowly walk to the car. I take a seat in the back, my dad in drivers. Jade sits in the front seat, and Jack sits next to me. I do my best to slid over so that I can be closer to Jack, and he wraps an arm around my shoulders. I grab a hold of his hand, and squeeze it as another wave of pain washes over me.

It's a short drive to the hospital, but I feel like it took ages. I never let go of Jack's hand, until we got there. To be honest, I didn't want to let go. But when the car door was opened, I was forced to. I was not going to have this baby in the back seat of a car. I let go of Jack, and slide out of the car door. My dad helps me get inside, and we all walk to the front desk. My dad explains the situation to the nurse, and I fold my arms on the counter. I rest my head on my arms, and I feel Jack's hand on my lower back. I know that it's Jack, because the hand is cold. It helps with the pain a little, but only for a moment. I feel another wave of pain, and I bite my lip to not make any noise. Screaming usually makes the pain feel worse than what it really is, and I don't want to do that, when I know that it's already going to get worse.

After my dad finishes talking to the nurse, a different nurse comes and tells me to sit down in a wheelchair. I do as she says, though it feels like I'm sitting on only my tailbone at this point. I look at everybody that's there. My dad with the a clipboard in his hand, and Jade, who's doing her best to give me a smile. I look to Jack, who has a worried look in his eyes. I show him the best smile that I can muster up at this point. I look into his eyes, and search them deeply.

"Let's go have a baby."

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**A/N Soooooo, what did you guys think? I think next chapter will feature a nervous soon-to-be father type of Jack. But anyway, there you go. Two drama bombs in one chapter. Yeah! lol. But that's it for now. Until next time, stay awesome!**


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